Popularity of the Baby Name Celine

Posts that Mention the Name Celine

Speaking of names in the Swedish royal family…the Swedish royal family caused some controversy back in 2012 when Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel named their baby girl Estelle.

One Swedish journalist said the name was “a very strange choice which I believe will be much discussed.” He added: “Estelle sounds like the name of a nightclub queen.”

Many speculated that the princess was named after American-born Countess Estelle Bernadotte (1904-1984) in order to make a political statement. Estelle’s husband Folke Bernadotte (son of Ebba Munck) was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1948, and one of the people behind the murder was future Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir.

Regardless of the reason it was chosen, the Princess’s name is now more popular than ever before in Sweden. Usage dipped right after she was born, but rebounded a few years later:

2017: 75 baby girls named Estelle in Sweden

2016: 70 baby girls named Estelle in Sweden

2015: 43 baby girls named Estelle in Sweden

2014: 45 baby girls named Estelle in Sweden

2013: 33 baby girls named Estelle in Sweden

2012: 55 baby girls named Estelle in Sweden

2011: 64 baby girls named Estelle in Sweden

2010: 53 baby girls named Estelle in Sweden

2009: 38 baby girls named Estelle in Sweden

2008: 41 baby girls named Estelle in Sweden

It didn’t come close to hitting the top 10 in 2017, but did rank somewhere around 145th.

According to one source, “[t]he name Estelle fits into a smallish trend in Sweden, where names of French origin — or just French-sounding — are slowly becoming popular. Some other names in this group are: Amélie, Celine, Leonie and Noelle.”

I’ve done all my standard research, which includes looking at newspapers and periodicals of the era, and so far I haven’t found any notable people/characters/products named Zeline (or Zelene) in 1956-1957.

These names don’t appear to be a variant of a more popular name, though I should mention that Celine saw an uptick in usage in ’58, which is interesting.

At least three of the Zelines and two of the Zelenes were born in California, but this probably isn’t much a clue, given the relative population of California.

The Jewish names above were listed in my source article, but the Muslim and Christian names below (beyond the #1 names) I had to translate from Hebrew using various online tools/dictionaries, so they might not be perfect.

Celine Dion and her husband René welcomed twins Eddy and Nelson a little more than a week ago. Here’s why they were named Eddy and Nelson:

The name “Eddy” comes from Eddy Marnay, who produced the singer’s first five records. “He was like a father to her,” says Dion’s rep. “Eddy is a major influence in both Céline and René’s lives.”

Nelson is named after Nelson Mandela, whom Dion met two years ago while kicking off her world tour in South Africa. “René said that in just the few minutes they were able to spend with him, they were impressed by the human being he is,” says the rep.

“Céline and René want their children to be inspired by their names, because they were so inspired by these men,” the rep adds.

I wish more people (celebs especially!) were this thoughtful about the baby names they chose.

Celine and René’s eldest son, René-Charles, was born in 2001. (Charles was the name of Dion’s paternal grandfather.)